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Apple Ends Sales of Xserve

If you are still trying to figure out whether or not Apple is a consumer-based company first and foremost, then put your questions aside because the Cupertino team has decided to completely discontinue all sales of its Xserve enterprise server offering.
Consumers will no longer be able to purchase the...

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It appears as if Apple’s component suppliers in Asia are preparing for mass production in September of a tablet with a smaller screen than the current generation iPad. This news comes from anonymous people who are “familiar” with the situation, suggesting that a launch for the device is also in the near future.

Two of the sources stated that the tablet’s screen will likely be smaller than 8″, 1.7″ shorter then the current 9.7″ screen of the current iPad, a size that has remained unchanged since the very first model launched back in 2010. Officials at the component supplier, who spoke under anonymity, stated that Apple has told them to prepare for mass production of the smaller tablet.

Earlier in the year it was reported that Apple was testing a smaller version of the iPad but had yet to decide whether or not to proceed with production of the device. Many consumers would probably flock to a smaller iPad with a reduced price as it would allow them to have most of the benefits of the current iPad without the steep price tag.

One source stated that Apple is working with multiple screen manufacturers, including LG in South Korea and AU Optronics in Taiwan. Unfortunately (though not surprisingly), an Apple spokeswoman out of Cupertino declined to comment on any such allegations.

Analysts also believe that a smaller iPad could help Apple maintain the dominance it has on the tablet market, especially with stiff competition coming from other manufacturers like Samsung, Amazon, Microsoft and Google, all of which having recently unveiled tablets of their own.

The iPad held a 62% share of the world-wide tablet market last year with tablet sales all around expected to increase 85% this year to a total of 126.6 million units. As the tablet market expands, the choices for consumers increase as well with more options and variations to choose from.

Google began accepting pre-orders for the Nexus 7, which is expected to sell for $199 and is in direct competition with Amazon’s Kindle Fire. In addition to that, Microsoft’s Surface tablet, which is expected to drop this fall with a 10.6″ display, is said to be the biggest new competition for the iPad.

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Well it’s happened, Microsoft has officially pulled the curtain on its much rumored tablet. Known as the Microsoft Surface, this tablet is already being seen as an iPad killer and it doesn’t even have a confirmed release date or pricing scheme yet. What it does have, however, is a full list of specs that make it easy to compare to Apple’s tablet juggernaut iPad.

So here we go on a spec war between both variations of Microsoft’s Surface tablet and the most recent Apple iPad:

Take away from the specs what you will, but one thing that the Surface tablet has over the iPad is the 3mm Touch Cover. The Touch Cover utilizes pressure-sensitive technology to sense keystrokes as gestures, allowing for faster touch typing than what is possible with an on-screen keyboard.

The Touch Cover attaches to the tablet with a built-in magnetic connector, which forms a “natural spine like you find on a book, and works as a protective cover,” Microsoft stated. In addition to that there is an option for a slightly thicker 5mm Type Cover that adds actual moving keys to give you a more traditional typing experience. Apple doesn’t have anything like that.

It is obvious that Microsoft is trying to bridge the gap between laptops and tablets with the Surface, something that Apple isn’t trying to do at all. When you boil it all down, the Touch Cover looks to be one of the best efforts to date to bridge this gap, especially when you pair it with the the high-performance Intel-based Windows * Surface tablet.

It sucks that we don’t have any information on pricing or availability yet but at least we have a confirmation of something that most people have been speculating on for the past couple of weeks. I am interested in seeing if the rumors about streaming Xbox Live is true. If so, I will definitely be swayed in favor of the Surface whenever I decide to buy a tablet.